System and method of challenge generation

ABSTRACT

A method of challenge generation comprises the steps of collecting gameplay telemetry data comprising values for one or more game parameters, from a plurality of users, selecting an in-game scenario for which telemetry data has been collected, for one or more selected game parameters, identify a value that does not prevent success in the in-game scenario, and generate a user challenge to succeed in the in-game scenario whilst generating a respective value for the one or more selected game parameters, the or each respective value having a respective selected relationship to the identified values of the one or more selected game parameters.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority from United Kingdom PatentApplication No. 1903644.1, filed on Mar. 18, 2019, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system and method of challengegeneration.

Description of the Prior Art

The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description which may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentinvention.

Many videogames comprise different modes of play, such as asingle-player or ‘story’ mode, or a multiplayer mode (whether thoseother players are real people, non player characters (so-called ‘bots’)or a mixture of the two.

Such modes allow for a variety of game play, but eventually there is arisk that a user may either complete the story mode and no longer feel aneed to revisit it, or find the multiplayer experience repetitive.

This problem can be mitigated by developers producing more single ormultiplayer content, but this can be costly to produce, and if providedas paid-for content, it may be unpalatable to the user.

Consequently there is a need for the ability to provide new activitiesto a user with little or no further developer input.

The present invention seeks to address or mitigate that need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect, a method of challenge generation is provided inaccordance with claim 1.

In another aspect, a challenge generation system is provided inaccordance with claim 13.

Further respective aspects and features of the invention are defined inthe appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a method of challenge generation, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram comprising a challenge generation system,in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an entertainment device operable aseither a client or server of a challenge generation system, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an entertainment device operable as aclient or a server in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A system and method of challenge generation are disclosed. In thefollowing description, a number of specific details are presented inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of thepresent invention. It will be apparent, however, to a person skilled inthe art that these specific details need not be employed to practice thepresent invention. Conversely, specific details known to the personskilled in the art are omitted for the purposes of clarity whereappropriate.

Embodiments of the present invention generate random challenges that arenevertheless achievable with the game. The random nature of thechallenges is constrained to what is achievable (i.e. possible) withinthe game as determined from player telemetry, as explained later herein.By using player telemetry to explore a variety of possible approaches toa game, embodiments of the present invention identify player behaviors(such as actions and choices) that occurred when typically a minority ofplayers succeeded in an in-game scenario (such as a map region, level,race, boss battle, quest or the like). Typically the smaller theminority of players involved, the more difficult (or novel) thechallenge.

Accordingly, and referring now to the drawings, wherein like referencenumerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout theseveral views, in FIG. 1 a method of challenge generation is provided.

In a first step 110, gameplay telemetry data comprising values for oneor more game parameters is collected from a plurality of users.

Referring also to FIG. 2 , each of the plurality of users has a clientdevice 100A, 100B, 100N, for example an entertainment device such as theSony PlayStation 4®.

The client devices record the one or more game parameters duringgameplay, and transmit these as gameplay telemetry data, in any suitablemanner, via a network such as the Internet 50 to a challenge generationserver 200.

The telemetry data may be transmitted live (i.e. game parameters aretransmitted as values are created or changed), or may be transmittedperiodically, for example upon the successful completion of an in gamescenario. Alternatively the telemetry data may be transmitted as amixture of these. Optionally telemetry data transmitted live to thechallenge generation server by a user (i.e. by their client device) maycollated periodically, for example upon successful completion of an ingame scenario.

The step of transmitting game parameters as telemetry data isindependent of the nature of the game parameters, which may varyaccording to the individual game. However a non-limiting example of suchgame parameters include the performance of a predetermined action,damage dealt, elapsed time, score, event, and the like.

In turn, non-limiting examples of the performance of a predeterminedaction include reaching a predetermined location or locations,collecting a predetermined item or items, using a predetermined weaponor weapons, interacting with one or predetermined objects and/ornon-player characters, and the like.

Similarly, non-limiting examples of damage dealt include damage dealteither in a single action or cumulatively, damage dealt to a singletarget object and/or non-player character either in a single action orcumulatively, damage dealt using a predetermined weapon, item or moveeither in a single action or cumulatively, and the like.

Similarly, non-limiting examples of elapsed time include the time takento complete an overall in game scenario, or to reach predeterminedcriteria relating to other examples above such as reaching apredetermined location, inflicting a predetermined level of damage, orperforming an action a predetermined number of times.

Similarly, non-limiting examples of a score include treasure collected,distance travelled, foes been, rounds won, and the like.

Similarly, non-limiting examples of events include things that occurwithin the game as a consequence of the player's interaction with thatgame, rather than parametric descriptions of game play as such. Hencenon-limiting examples may include detection of the player by a guard,completion of a puzzle, the survival (or death) of a non-playercompanion, levelling up of the player, the completion of a quest (wherethis is distinct from an in-game scenario, which itself may be a quest),and the like.

A further non-limiting example of such game parameters include damagereceived, in-game resource cost, and the like. These parameters can beindicative of the effective penalty associated with successfulcompletion of an in game scenario, typically but optionally inassociation with one of the other parameters. Hence for example using asword to kill a boss may result in more damage being received than usinga gun to kill the boss, because success with a sword is more difficultand likely to incur more damage.

Non-limiting examples of damage received include loss of health ornumber of health units or health regeneration units consumed, loss ofshield strength, armor strength, magical strength or other damageresistance property or the number of corresponding units or regenerationunits consumed, and the like.

Non-limiting examples of in-game resource cost include number offighting units lost, amount of territory lost, amount of treasure lost,amount of influence or goodwill with non-player characters lost, in-gametime taken, and the like.

In a second step s120 of the method, an in-game scenario is selected forwhich telemetry data has been collected. As noted previously, examplesof in game scenarios include but are not limited to a map region, level,race, boss battle, quest or the like. The in-game scenario may beselected at random, or may be selected by the game developer orpublisher, or optionally may be selected by a user for a group offriends. The target population of users for a challenge based on the ingame scenario may be all users, a geographical subset of users, an agesubset of users, a group of friends maintained using a friendshipassociation internal or external to the game, a clan or guild maintainedusing a clan or guild association internal or external to the game, asubset of users of a particular in-game character class or in-game skilllevel, a subset of users equipped with particular in-game items and/oror abilities, or an individual user.

In each case, the selection may be constrained to in-game scenarios thathave been accessed or are accessible by a threshold proportion of thetarget population of users, so that at least that threshold proportioncan access the resulting challenge.

To provide a non-limiting example for the purposes of subsequentexplanation, the in-game scenario may be the defeat of a particularboss.

In third step s130 of the method then comprises for one or more selectedgame parameters, identify a value that does not prevent success in thein-game scenario.

The game challenge server will have recorded values for one or moreselected game parameters, and also whether a user was successful withinthe in-game scenario (optionally, the values for the parameters may onlybe recorded if a user is successful within the in-game scenario).

Referring now also to FIG. 3 , the server may then calculate whatproportion of successful outcomes are associated with respective valuesof an in-game parameter. FIG. 3 shows values for a game parameterrelated to the number of rockets fired by the user (for example from abazooka) when fighting the boss in the example scenario.

The values may be identified for example using any suitable decisiontree, such as for example a conditional inference tree. Conditionalinference trees recursively perform univariate splits of the relevantvariable (such as the number of rockets fired) based on values of a setof covariates (such as success rate).

In order to provide a challenge, optionally a threshold success rate maybe chosen, such as for example 50%, 40%, 30%, 20% or 10%. The smallerthe threshold, typically the harder the challenge. In other words, forone or more selected game parameters, identify a value that is notassociated with a proportion of success in the in-game scenario at orabove a predetermined threshold, or similarly identify a value that isassociated with a proportion of success in the in-game scenario at orbelow a predetermined threshold.

In FIG. 3 , it can be seen that users who fired five or more rocketssucceeded 80% of the time in defeating the boss. As the success rate isabove the threshold, optionally further exploration of this branch ofthe tree may be curtailed.

Meanwhile users who fired fewer than five rockets succeeded 33% of thetime. Hence given the smaller proportion at this level of the tree, thisbranch may be explored further even if this success rate is above thethreshold.

In this case a further division reveals that players who fired betweentwo and four rockets succeeded 33% of the time, whilst those who firedfewer than two rockets (i.e. one or zero rockets) never succeeded.

Consequently it can be seen that values of fewer than two rockets areassociated with zero success. Until a user succeeds with fewer than tworockets, it is assumed that these values prevents success in the in-gamescenario, and so will not be chosen for a challenge. Clearly in the casewhere parameter values for unsuccessful attempts are not recorded, thenthese values of fewer than two rockets would automatically be excludedfrom the tree. Hence in this latter case (or in any case where there isno explicit association with zero success), optionally any value outsidethe effective parameter value range associated with at least one successmay be assumed to prevent success.

If a threshold success rate has been chosen, then a node on the tree maybe chosen that is closest to the threshold success rate, and optionallyclosest above if the threshold success rate is treated as a minimumsuccess rate.

Hence for example if the minimum success rate has been set at 20%, thenit can be seen that the node corresponding to players who fired betweentwo and four rockets is the closest option above the minimum successrate; in this case, identifying a particular number of rockets to usemay be considered over-specific. However, if the threshold success rateis treated as a target or a maximum rather than a minimum, thenoptionally specifying the use of exactly four rockets may be the closerto that target as a suitable challenge.

Having identified a node in the decision tree, or similarly identified acorrelation between parameter value and success rate, using any suitabletechnique, close to and optionally above a target value for the successrate, that parameter value may form the basis for the generation of auser challenge. It will be appreciated from the example in FIG. 3 that a‘value’ may be a specific value, or a range of values, as appropriate.

It will be appreciated that the success rate is that of the playerswhose recorded values are being evaluated. As noted above, thein-scenario may be chosen responsive to particular subsets of players.Accordingly, optionally the parameter values and success rates used toidentify one or parameter values may be based upon corresponding subsetsof players. Hence for example if a challenge is being set for playersunder 12, then optionally the parameter values may be selected basedupon the success of only other players under 12. Similarly if achallenge is being set for players of a particular character class, thenoptionally the parameter values may be selected based upon the successonly of other players of that character class. Finally, if a challengeis being set for a particular individual player, then optionally theparameter values may be based upon the success only of other playerswith similar in-game profiles to the individual player; in this case,developers may select those elements of the profile that are importantto defining the similarity of players; for example character class orskill level might be important, whereas in-game wealth might not.

Hence more generally the user challenge may be generated for a targetpopulation of users based on telemetry data from a subset of theplurality of users, the subset being selected according to one or moresimilarity criteria with respect to the target population of users.

Subsequently, a fourth step s140 of the method is to generate a userchallenge to succeed in the in-game scenario whilst the user generates arespective value for the one or more selected game parameters, the oreach respective value having a respective selected relationship to theidentified values of the one or more selected game parameters.

In the explanatory example, the identified value is 2-4 for the numberof rockets fired. In this case, it will be understood that the minimumthreshold of 20% that was set has influenced the identified value, asthis corresponds to the lowest success rate above the 20% threshold.

However as noted above it will be appreciated that the use of such aminimum target threshold is optional; for example the lowest valuehaving a non-zero success rate may be chosen (although it may berecognised that this is likely to produce a very hard challenge).

If more than one identified value is to be used, then typically asuccess rate is identified for a combination of values from the twoparameters. For example it may be a success rate for number of rocketsAND damage received. In this case for example it may be that whilst 33%of players were successful when firing 2-4 rockets regardless of damagetaken, only 10% of players were successful without taking any damage,and the range of damage taken by the remaining 23% of players verywidely from minimal damage to near death.

Consequently, it may be found (for example by use of a conditionalinference tree) that for example 21% of players were successful whenfiring 3-5 rockets whilst taking less than 25% damage. This may then bechosen as the combination of values that produces a success rate closestto the minimum threshold in the example.

It will be appreciated that in principle any parameter can be chosen asthe first or the second parameter. However, optionally the firstparameter can relate to a specific behavior (such as performance of apredetermined action, damage dealt, elapsed time, score, event, and thelike), whilst the second parameter can relate to a specific penalty(such as damage received, in-game resource cost, and the like).

In either case, the challenge generation server then uses a challengegeneration framework to create a challenge both in a language readableto the user, and separately in a language readable to form a form usableby the challenge generation server and/or the client devices.

Generating the challenge in a readable language involves the provisionof stock sentences such as “In <scenario name>, use <relative selectedrelationship> <identified parameter value> <parameter name> to <scenariooutcome>”.

In the present example, this may result in the challenge sentence “In<the boss fight> use <between> <2-4> <rockets> to <defeat the boss>”(the < and > markers simply delineate the fields and would not be in thefinal sentence presented to the user).

In a challenge based on a variable value such as in the example above,different selected relationships may include for example ‘fewer than’,‘more than’, ‘between’, and ‘exactly’.

Meanwhile in challenges based on other parameters, such as reaching aspecific point or performing a particular action, the relative selectedrelationship may for example be binary, such as to ‘reach’ or ‘avoid’ alocation or to ‘perform’ or ‘avoid’ an action.

Hence it will be appreciated that different challenges will usedifferent stock sentences. Consequently different parameters may beassociated with different sentence types and hence different challengetypes. Thus for example another stock sentence may be “Can you complete<scenario name> without losing <identified parameter value> units of<penalty related parameter>?”, which may generate “Can you beat <theboss fight> without losing <25> units of <health>?”

It will also be appreciated that natural language substitutions can beused for certain parameter values; hence for example “without losing <0>units of <health>” could be rephrased as “without losing any health”.

Once a developer has provided stock sentences for the various parametertypes, no further input may be required to generate challenges, forexample on a daily basis for a target population of players. As notedabove, the target population may comprise all players of the game, orany number of permutations down to individual players. It will beappreciated that it would not be feasible for developers to manuallycreate daily challenges for small groups or individual players.

The above example related to exhibiting behaviour that was alsoexhibited by fewer than a threshold proportion of users. However, thisis not the only format of challenge possible.

More generally, there are at least four basic formats for a challenge;

i. The first is to succeed whilst exhibiting a behaviour also exhibitedby fewer than a threshold proportion of users.

ii. The second is to succeed whilst avoiding a behaviour also avoided byfewer than a threshold proportion of users.

These first two formats involve replicating an aspect of gameplay shownby typically a minority of players.

iii. The third is to succeed whilst avoiding a behaviour that wasexhibited by more than a threshold proportion of users.

iv. The fourth is to succeed whilst exhibiting a behaviour that wasavoided (not exhibited) by more than a threshold proportion of users.

These second two formats involve rejecting an aspect of gameplay shownby typically a majority of players.

Hence optionally whilst the step of generating a user challenge maycomprise requiring a user to reach or set a respective identified valuefor one or more selected game parameters, where that identified valuewas reached or set by less than a threshold proportion of users who weresuccessful in the in-game scenario, similarly optionally the step ofgenerating a user challenge may comprise requiring a user to not reachor not set a respective identified value for one or more selected gameparameters, where that identified value was not reached or not set byless than a threshold proportion of users who were successful in thein-game scenario.

Similarly optionally whilst the step of generating a user challenge maycomprise requiring a user to not reach or not set a respectiveidentified value for one or more selected game parameters, where thatidentified value was reached or set by more than a threshold proportionof users who were successful in the in-game scenario, similarlyoptionally the step of generating a user challenge may compriserequiring a user to reach or set a respective identified value for oneor more selected game parameters, where that identified value was notreached or not set by more than a threshold proportion of users who weresuccessful in the in-game scenario.

Again in each case values are chosen that do not prevent success; hencewhen challenged to exhibit behaviors, the associated parameter valuesshould be associated with a non-zero level of success amongst theplurality of players (i.e. the challenge should not require a behaviorassociated with or assumed to be associated with failure). Converselywhen challenged to avoid behaviors, the associated parameter valuesshould not be associated with 100% successes amongst the plurality ofplayers (i.e. the challenge should not be to avoid a behavior essentialto or assumed to be essential to success).

As discussed previously, challenge generation may be subject toadditional precautions such as also setting a minimum thresholdproportion of successful users. For example, using the first format, ifa challenge to succeed using the number of rockets fired by fewer than40% of the players is satisfied only by one node in which 5% of playerswere successful, then this may result in a harder challenge than wasintended; therefore might also setting a minimum threshold of forexample 20%, in this case the candidate challenge would no longer begenerated.

As noted previously herein, the proportion of the plurality of playerswho succeed whilst exhibiting a particular behaviour, or converselyavoiding a particular behaviour, is indicative of the rarity ordifficulty associated with that approach.

Consequently a difficulty setting for a challenge can be created bydefining a proportion (or more generally a range of proportions) of theplurality of players who must have succeeded. Consequently, one or morecandidate challenges may be generated based on values or value ranges ofin-game parameters for which the proportion of successful players meetsthe defined proportion or range of proportions.

Hence for example 3 increasing difficulty settings could be created bydefining a success range of 40-30% for ‘easy’ challenges, 30-20% for‘normal’ challenges, and 20-10% for ‘hard’ challenges. The specificranges or values may be decided by the developer or publisher, orwhoever administers the challenge generation process.

Optionally, in order to provide variety the one or more in-gameparameters may be selected at random or in sequence for use inchallenges, and once used for a challenge may be blocked from use for aperiod of time or for a number of subsequent challenges, or may beplaced at the back of the sequence or may be biased against within arandom selection.

This encourages different aspects of gameplay to be used for successivechallenges. It will be appreciated that where the selected one or morein game parameters comprise values that do not satisfy the difficultyrange for a given challenge, the method may move on to the nextparameter or parameter combination.

In embodiments of the present invention, the generated challenge may beassociated with a unique identifier. This may then be used for exampleas an argument in a URL to route a user to a particular discussion forumdedicated to that challenge. This may then allow members of the targetpopulation to discuss the challenge.

The above described methods and techniques and corresponding systemsfound in embodiments of the present invention as described hereinprovide a means by which new activities can be generated automaticallyfor a videogame, thereby extending the playable life of the videogamefor users. It will be further appreciated that the present methods andtechniques are distinct to and independent of the actual activitiesgenerated, which typically reflect the nature of the videogame to whichthe techniques are applied; hence for example a racing game will resultin different challenges to a chess game or a fighting game, despiteapplications of the same techniques.

It will be appreciated that the above methods and techniques may becarried out on conventional hardware suitably adapted as applicable bysoftware instruction or by the inclusion or substitution of dedicatedhardware.

Thus the required adaptation to existing parts of a conventionalequivalent device may be implemented in the form of a computer programproduct comprising processor implementable instructions stored on anon-transitory machine-readable medium such as a floppy disk, opticaldisk, hard disk, PROM, RAM, flash memory or any combination of these orother storage media, or realised in hardware as an ASIC (applicationspecific integrated circuit) or an FPGA (field programmable gate array)or other configurable circuit suitable to use in adapting theconventional equivalent device. Separately, such a computer program maybe transmitted via data signals on a network such as an Ethernet, awireless network, the Internet, or any combination of these or othernetworks.

Referring to FIG. 4 , an example of a suitable hardware is the SonyPlayStation 4 ®. Depending upon the software instructions provided, thePlayStation 4 ® may operate as a client 100 or as a challenge generationserver 200.

In either case, a system unit 10 is provided, with various peripheraldevices optionally connectable to the system unit.

The system unit 10 comprises an accelerated processing unit (APU) 20being a single chip that in turn comprises a central processing unit(CPU) 20A and a graphics processing unit (GPU) 20B. The APU 20 hasaccess to a random access memory (RAM) unit 22.

The APU 20 communicates with a bus 40, optionally via an I/O bridge 24,which may be a discreet component or part of the APU 20.

Connected to the bus 40 are data storage components such as a hard diskdrive 37, and a Blu-ray® drive 36 operable to access data on compatibleoptical discs 36A. Additionally the RAM unit 22 may communicate with thebus 40.

Optionally also connected to the bus 40 is an auxiliary processor 38.The auxiliary processor 38 may be provided to run or support theoperating system.

The system unit 10 communicates with peripheral devices as appropriatevia an audio/visual input port 31, an Ethernet® port 32, a Bluetooth®wireless link 33, a Wi-Fi wireless link 34, or one or more universalserial bus (USB) ports 35. Audio and video may be output via an AVoutput 39, such as an HDMI port.

The peripheral devices may include a monoscopic or stereoscopic videocamera 41 such as the PlayStation Eye®; wand-style videogame controllers42 such as the PlayStation Move® and conventional handheld videogamecontrollers 43 such as the DualShock 4 ®; portable entertainment devices44 such as the PlayStation Portable® and PlayStation Vita®; a keyboard45 and/or a mouse 46; a media controller 47, for example in the form ofa remote control; and a headset 48. Other peripheral devices maysimilarly be considered such as a printer, or a 3D printer (not shown).

The GPU 20B, optionally in conjunction with the CPU 20A, generates videoimages and audio for output via the AV output 39. Optionally the audiomay be generated in conjunction with or instead by an audio processor(not shown).

The video and optionally the audio may be presented to a television 51.Where supported by the television, the video may be stereoscopic. Theaudio may be presented to a home cinema system 52 in one of a number offormats such as stereo, 5.1 surround sound or 7.1 surround sound. Videoand audio may likewise be presented to a head mounted display unit 53worn by a user 60.

In operation, the entertainment device defaults to an operating systemsuch as a variant of FreeBSD 9.0. The operating system may run on theCPU 20A, the auxiliary processor 38, or a mixture of the two. Theoperating system provides the user with a graphical user interface suchas the PlayStation Dynamic Menu. The menu allows the user to accessoperating system features and to select games and optionally othercontent.

It will be appreciated that a general purpose computer or server maysimilarly act in the roles of client 100 or challenge generation server200.

Accordingly, in an embodiment of the present invention, a challengegeneration system (10, 200) comprises a receiver (such as for example anEthernet® port 32, in conjunction with CPU 20A operating under suitablesoftware instruction), operable to collect gameplay telemetry datacomprising values for one or more game parameters, from a plurality ofusers. The system also comprises a scenario selection processor (such asCPU 20A) operable (for example under suitable software instruction) toselect an in-game scenario for which telemetry data has been collected.The system further comprises a value selection processor (such as CPU20A) operable (for example under suitable software instruction), for oneor more selected game parameters, to identify a value that does notprevent success in the in-game scenario. Moreover, the system comprisesa challenge generation processor (such as CPU 20A) operable (for exampleunder suitable software instruction) to generate a user challenge tosucceed in the in-game scenario whilst they generate a respective valuefor the one or more selected game parameters, the or each respectivevalue having a respective selected relationship to the identified valuesof the one or more selected game parameters.

It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that variations inthe components and operations of the above system, correspondingvariations in the methods and techniques described and claimed hereinare considered within the scope of the present invention, including butnot limited to:

-   -   the challenge generation processor being operable to generate a        user challenge for a target population of users based on        telemetry data from a subset of the plurality of users, the        subset being selected according to one or more similarity        criteria with respect to the target population of users;    -   the challenge generation processor being operable to define the        difficulty of a challenge by the proportion of the plurality of        users who have succeeded in the in-game scenario whilst        generating a respective value for the one or more selected game        parameters, the or each respective value having the respective        selected relationship to the identified values of the one or        more selected game parameters;    -   the challenge generation processor being operable to generate a        plurality of challenges of increasing difficulty;    -   the challenge generation processor being operable to generate a        user challenge that requires a user to reach or set a respective        identified value for one or more selected game parameters, where        that identified value was reached or set by less than a        threshold proportion of users who were successful in the in-game        scenario;    -   the challenge generation processor being operable to generate a        user challenge that requires a user to not reach or not set a        respective identified value for one or more selected game        parameters, where that identified value was not reached or not        set by less than a threshold proportion of users who were        successful in the in-game scenario;    -   the challenge generation processor being operable to generate a        user challenge that requires a user to not reach or not set a        respective identified value for one or more selected game        parameters, where that identified value was reached or set by        more than a threshold proportion of users who were successful in        the in-game scenario;    -   the challenge generation processor being operable to generate a        user challenge that requires a user to reach or set a respective        identified value for one or more selected game parameters, where        that identified value was not reached or not set by more than a        threshold proportion of users who were successful in the in-game        scenario;    -   a first selected parameter comprises one from the list        consisting of performance of a predetermined action, damage        dealt, elapsed time, score, and event; and    -   a first or second selected parameter comprises one from the list        consisting of damage received, and in game resource cost.

The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. As will be understood by thoseskilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departing from the spirit or essentialcharacteristics thereof. Accordingly, the disclosure of the presentinvention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting of the scopeof the invention, as well as other claims. The disclosure, including anyreadily discernible variants of the teachings herein, defines, in part,the scope of the foregoing claim terminology such that no inventivesubject matter is dedicated to the public.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of challenge generation,comprising the steps of: using a processor to control collectinggameplay telemetry data electronically, the gameplay telemetry datacomprising values for one or more game parameters, from a plurality ofusers; selecting an in-game scenario for which the gameplay telemetrydata from a threshold proportion of a target population of users hasbeen collected; for one or more selected game parameters, identifying avalue that does not prevent success in the in-game scenario using thegameplay telemetry data that has been collected from the thresholdproportion of the target population of users, wherein a first or secondselected parameter comprises at least one of performance of apredetermined action, damage dealt, elapsed time, score, or event, andwherein the value is identified based on a calculated proportion ofsuccess associated with the value; and generating a user challenge tosucceed in the in-game scenario whilst generating a respective value forthe one or more selected game parameters, each respective value having arespective selected relationship to the identified values of the one ormore selected game parameters in which the user challenge is generatedfor the target population of users, the target population of users beingone or more selected from i. a geographical subset of users; ii. an agesubset of users; iii. a subset of users of a particular in-gamecharacter class; and iv. a subset of users equipped with particularin-game items and/or abilities, wherein generating a challenge includesthe processor using a challenge generation framework to create achallenge both in a language readable to a user and in a form useable bya challenge generation server and/or client devices.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, comprising the step of for one or more selected gameparameters, identifying a value that is not associated with a proportionof success in the in-game scenario at or above a predeterminedthreshold.
 3. The method of claim 1, in which the step of generating auser challenge comprises requiring a user to reach or set a respectiveidentified value for one or more selected game parameters, where thatidentified value was reached or set by less than a threshold proportionof users who were successful in the in-game scenario.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, in which the step of generating a user challenge comprisesrequiring a user to not reach or not set a respective identified valuefor one or more selected game parameters, where that identified valuewas not reached or not set by less than a threshold proportion of userswho were successful in the in-game scenario.
 5. The method of claim 1,in which the step of generating a user challenge comprises requiring auser to not reach or not set a respective identified value for one ormore selected game parameters, where that identified value was reachedor set by more than a threshold proportion of users who were successfulin the in-game scenario.
 6. The method of claim 1, in which the step ofgenerating a user challenge comprises requiring a user to reach or set arespective identified value for one or more selected game parameters,where that identified value was not reached or not set by more than athreshold proportion of users who were successful in the in-gamescenario.
 7. The method of claim 1, where the first or second selectedparameter comprises one from the list consisting of: i. damage received;and ii. in-game resource cost.
 8. The method of claim 1, in which theuser challenge is generated for the target population of users based ontelemetry data from a subset of the plurality of users, the subset beingselected according to one or more similarity criteria with respect tothe target population of users.
 9. The method of claim 1, in which thedifficulty of a challenge is defined by the proportion of the pluralityof users who have succeeded in the in-game scenario whilst generating arespective value for the one or more selected game parameters, eachrespective value having the respective selected relationship to theidentified values of the one or more selected game parameters.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, in which the step of generating a user challengecomprises generating a plurality of challenges of increasing difficulty.11. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereoncomputer executable instructions adapted to cause a computer system toperform the method of challenge generation, the method comprising thesteps of: collecting gameplay telemetry data electronically, thegameplay telemetry data comprising values for one or more gameparameters, from a plurality of users; selecting an in-game scenario forwhich the gameplay telemetry data from a threshold proportion of atarget population of users has been collected; for one or more selectedgame parameters, identifying a value that does not prevent success inthe in-game scenario using the gameplay telemetry data that has beencollected from the threshold proportion of the target population ofusers, wherein a first or second selected parameter comprises at leastone of performance of a predetermined action, damage dealt, elapsedtime, score, or event, and wherein the value is identified based on acalculated proportion of success associated with the value; andgenerating a user challenge to succeed in the in-game scenario whilstgenerating a respective value for the one or more selected gameparameters, each respective value having a respective selectedrelationship to the identified values of the one or more selected gameparameters in which the user challenge is generated for the targetpopulation of users, the target population of users being one or moreselected from iv. a geographical subset of users; ii. an age subset ofusers; iii. A subset of users of a particular in-game character class;and iv. A subset of users equipped with particular in-game items and/orabilities, wherein generating a challenge includes the processor using achallenge generation framework to create a challenge both in a languagereadable to a user and in a form useable by a challenge generationserver and/or client devices.
 12. A challenge generation system,comprising: a receiver operable to collect gameplay telemetry dataelectronically, the gameplay telemetry data comprising values for one ormore game parameters, from a plurality of users; a scenario selectionprocessor operable to select an in-game scenario for which the gameplaytelemetry data from a threshold proportion of a target population ofusers has been collected; a value selection processor operable, for oneor more selected game parameters, to identify a value that does notprevent success in the in-game scenario using the gameplay telemetrydata that has been collected from the threshold proportion of the targetpopulation of users, wherein a first or second selected parametercomprises at least one of performance of a predetermined action, damagedealt, elapsed time, score, or event, and wherein the value isidentified based on a proportion of success associated with the value;and a challenge generation processor operable to generate a userchallenge to succeed in the in-game scenario whilst they generate arespective value for the one or more selected game parameters, eachrespective value having a respective selected relationship to theidentified values of the one or more selected game parameters in whichthe user challenge is generated for the target population of users, thetarget population of users being one or more selected from i. ageographical subset of users; ii. an age subset of users; iii. a subsetof users of a particular in-game character class; and iv. a subset ofusers equipped with particular in-game items and/or abilities, whereingenerating a challenge includes the processor using a challengegeneration framework to create a challenge both in a language readableto a user and in a form useable by a challenge generation server and/orclient devices.
 13. A challenge generation system according to claim 12,in which the challenge generation processor is operable to generate auser challenge for the target population of users based on telemetrydata from a subset of the plurality of users, the subset being selectedaccording to one or more similarity criteria with respect to the targetpopulation of users.
 14. A challenge generation system according toclaim 12, in which the challenge generation processor defines thedifficulty of a challenge by the proportion of the plurality of userswho have succeeded in the in-game scenario whilst generating arespective value for the one or more selected game parameters, eachrespective value having the respective selected relationship to theidentified values of the one or more selected game parameters.